Key Professionals
Venturi & Company’s strength lies in the excellence and commitment of
its professionals. The firm’s seasoned professionals combine a breadth
of corporate finance experience with demonstrated transaction success to
provide our clients with customized, effective solutions
Matthew B. Venturi
Matt is the Managing Member of Venturi & Company, a
middle-market investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions,
financial restructurings, private placements, strategic alliances and
general corporate finance advisory services. Between 1998 and 2001, he
worked with Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin as the Managing Director
responsible for Houlihan Lokey’s investment banking efforts in San
Francisco. During this period he helped to initiate the firm’s
Technology Banking Group and cross-boarder capabilities, while also
serving as a member of the firm’s Investment Banking Committee, Finance
Committee and Strategic Alliance Committee. Prior to working at Houlihan
Lokey, Matt was with Smith Barney’s Corporate Finance Division for 12
years, including serving as the Managing Director responsible for the
Western Region Emerging Growth Group located in San Francisco. From 1989
to 1993, Matt was a senior member of Smith Barney’s Financial
Restructuring Group advising selected companies and various creditor
groups involved in both bankruptcy reorganizations and out-of-court
financial restructurings including, among others, Greyhound, Gillette
Holdings, Tracor Holdings, Plantronics, Zales, Siliconix, Norcal Waste
Systems, Reading & Bates and HealthVest. While at Smith Barney, he was
responsible for developing several new product and key business
initiatives including a proprietary franchise finance program within the
Blockbuster and Burger King systems, the firm’s initial asset-backed
financing efforts and the High Yield Debt Financing Group.
Prior to joining Smith Barney, he worked with Merrill Lynch & Co. in New
York between 1979 and 1983, initially as one of only 17 individuals
selected to train as a member of the firm’s exclusive Corporate Intern
Program, and then subsequently in several sales and capital
markets-related areas, including Merrill Lynch’s Corporate Syndicate
Desk. He currently serves as a board member of the National Association
of Corporate Directors – Northern California Chapter, the Turnaround
Management Association – NorCal Chapter, The Bobby Jones Golf Company
LLC and Plaid Pantries, Inc. Matt
received a BS degree in Commerce from Santa Clara University and an MBA
degree from New York University’s Stern Graduate School of Business.
Renee Shaening
Prior to joining Venturi & Company LLC, Renee worked as a Senior Associate for Environmental Risk Communications Inc.
(“ERCI”), a strategy consulting firm specializing in environmental liability portfolio optimization. At ERCI, Renee’s
responsibilities included financial modeling, business planning and strategic analysis of corporate environmental obligations.
Before ERCI, Renee spent several years working as a Financial Analyst at Kagan Research, a Monterey-based research and
consulting group. During her tenure at Kagan, Renee developed and maintained extensive financial models to analyze the
performance of public cable companies and forecast industry trends. She also provided fair market valuations and specialized
consulting to a wide variety of media industry executives. Renee holds an MBA with a finance focus from the Monterey Institute
of International Studies and a BS in Civil/Environmental Engineering from Michigan State University.
[Back to Top]